Day 20 Albuquerque! 7-4-18

Tucumcari in the morning by bike, Tucumcari to Edgewood by truck, Edgewood to Albuquerque by bike.

Just to confuse everyone, I started the day by riding up and down Route 66 in Tucumcari several times. Route 66 merges with I-40 outside of the city limits, and there were no other options for me to ride on a frontage road, or any country roads in the area that didn't dead-end. I had breakfast at a Route 66 diner, and had my first Hatch green chile of the trip! The memories of eating green chile at just about every meal in Albuquerque made my mouth water, and it was even better than I anticipated.

I rode several miles in the Tucumcari area, but my cycling GPS app (Strava) didn't record after my first stop. I realize this is the epitome of "first world problems," but I am bummed because now the total number of miles recorded is different than the total number of miles I have actually been on the bike. Will you trust me when I say I rode at least 30 miles in the Tucumcari area, and this is being ultra conservative?

I met Debi and Addy back at Mack the Silverback, and we drove to Edgewood, where Kelly's friends Cecy and Rob live. Kelly and Shannon flew into Albuquerque today, and Kelly's sister Marla, and Marla's son Matthew picked them up from the airport. They met me at Cecy's house in Edgewood, while Debi and Addy drove on to Albuquerque, to get Mack the Silverback set up. Clear as mud so far? We had a great time hanging out, and Cecy made some ribs that were so tender they were almost dissolving on the plate.

After hanging out for a bit, I hopped on the bike, and was able to ride from Edgewood to Albuquerque through Tijeras Canyon. It was about 800 feet of climbing, but then the descent was over 2000 feet, and incredibly fun. Route 66 in this area had been repaved, and was in very good condition. After riding to the campground, we all went out for dinner, and met Debi's friend from college, Laura, as well as Marla. Of course I had more green chile on a hamburger, and then we watched/listened to some fireworks in the area.